Ari shrugged. “I know, but I can’t be rude.”
“Firm isn’t the same as rude,” Meagan said.
Teran sighed. “Well, I have a decision to make, though I’m deferring it as long as possible. Andrew has asked me to move in together. I don’t think I want to.” Andrew was Teran’s gentleman friend. She had never been married and I couldn’t see her agreeing to even live with anybody. I was about to say so when the doorbell rang.
I swung open the door and there stood Ellison. He leaned against the doorframe, staring at me with a sneer I had almost managed to forget.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I immediately blocked the door so he couldn’t come charging through.
“You fat cow, you damned well better answer me when I call.” His words were slurred, but they were still clear enough for me to understand.
“Get off my doorstep before I call the Court Magika. And the police. You’re breaking the restraining order, and I’m pretty sure you’d rather see the cops than the Court. They’ll flay you alive.” I was suddenly sober, all the alcohol draining from my system.
Teran joined me, peeking over my shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here, you son of a prick? Get out of here, now.”
I turned to her. “Call the cops.” I wasn’t about to say another word to Ellison. I took a step back and prepared to slam the door when he lurched forward, jamming his foot in and shouldering the door open.
Without thinking, I thrust my palms out, throwing my weight against Ellison so that he stumbled back, landing on his ass with a hard thump. He began swearing up a blue streak. While I swore, Ellison could sound like a trucker on speed. As he tried to stand up, he wove back and forth and I caught a whiff of beer on his breath.
“Yeesh, you smell like a hops factory,” I said, unable to reconcile the cool, aloof wannabe-sophisticate with the drunken lout who was standing in front of me. I turned to Teran. “I don’t want him driving. He could kill someone. How long till Millie gets here?”
“She’s sending Tanner. He’ll be here directly. I also left a message for the Court Magika.”
Millie Tuptin was the chief of police, a German shepherd shifter, and she was one of the good cops. I had briefly met Tanner Smith, who was as trustworthy as his boss. He was human, but as a Black man, he had dealt with prejudice all of his life so he didn’t hold disgruntled feelings toward the Otherkin community. He knew how hard life could be for those considered on the outside.
Ellison ranted as he staggered across the porch back toward the door. He started to sob at one point, and threw something at me. I was behind the screen door, which I’d latched, so whatever it was landed short and I wasn’t about to jump out and pick it up.
“You’re to blame. She laughed at me. She said I was a loser—and she told me to get dressed and run home to my mother.” Now, Ellison dropped onto his ass, absorbed in his tears. “And I turned to you and you didn’t answer!”
Ari and Meagan peeked around the corner. Ari gasped. “Ellison? What the ever-loving fuck is he doing here?”
“Apparently, he’s crying on my front porch,” I said. “Am I never going to be free of this fool?” I turned to Teran. “Can’t we cast a forget spell on him—make him forget all about me? He didn’t want me when he had me, but now that he can’t have me, he won’t let go.”
At that moment, a police car pulled up. Tanner Smith stepped out, buff enough to take on anybody. He was fiercely loyal to his job. He darted through raindrops that were pelting the ground. The wind had picked up and was shuddering past, whipping by with the few last leaves off the trees.
“When did he show up?” he asked, pulling out his notebook.
“Well, I blocked his number, so he found somebody else’s phone and called from that a little while ago. I hung up on him and he showed up here on my doorstep. You know I’ve got a restraining order from the courts, and from the Court Magika.”
“This is the second time he’s broken it, right?” Tanner asked.
That was easy. “Yes, he’s tried to call, tried to text, all which are forbidden under the ruling. Since we had no children together and technically, we have nothing to talk about, it’s a total no-contact order. He’s broken it right and left.”
“Right, we’ll haul him down to jail and tomorrow, we’ll send him to the courts. Come down tomorrow morning to formally press charges.” Tanner slapped a pair of cuffs on Ellison and dragged him away.
As I watched him go, I wished that I’d never see Ellison or hear from him again.
“Thanks, Tanner!” I spoke directly to Tanner, ignoring the now-blubbering Ellison. “I swear, that man is going to drive himself off a cliff one of these days to prove a point. He’s one of the most self-destructive people I’ve met.”
“Hasn’t he always been?” Teran shook her head. We closed the door and headed back into the kitchen.
By the time we had packaged up the cookies, it was almost time for Killian to get home. I foraged in the fridge for something to throw together for dinner but all I could find was a box of frozen fish sticks and some stale bread. We had used up all the eggs making cookies, and I’d run out of bacon the day before. Surprised that I hadn’t noticed the lack of food—I loved to eat and cook—I decided that I needed to go shopping soon. I’d been too swamped to shop of late.
“What are you going to tell Killian?” Ari asked. “You know if he finds out, he’ll tear apart that jail cell and throttle Ellison.”
“Which is precisely why I’m not going to tell him,” I answered. “The last thing I need is for Killian to get himself tossed into the slammer for storming the jail cells.”
“Good luck with that. You know you have trouble lying to him,” Teran said, sliding into her coat.
“Hold on, are you good to drive?” I pointed to the vodka bottle. We had put quite a dent in it. “I’m not letting you drive unless I know you’re sober. And I’m not going to lie to him. I’m simply not going to tell him.”
“Good luck with that.” Teran gave me a long look. “I’m fine. You know I can handle alcohol better than most grown men.”
She was telling the truth—my aunt did have the ability to process alcohol better than about anybody I had met. I turned to Ari. “What about you two?”
Meagan spoke up. “I only had one drink—my second mocha was straight—no booze. I promised to be the designated driver. I’ll tell you what, we’ll drop Teran off at her house to set your mind at ease, and tomorrow she can come get her truck.”
“I’m going to need that truck first thing tomorrow morning—” Teran started to say.
“No worries. When Killian gets home, he can drive it over. You only live a few blocks from here, and I’ll come with him and then we can walk home. We can bring your cookies with us.”
Satisfied, I let them gather their coats. Ari and Meagan took their cookies with them while I stacked the rest in the pantry, and I made sure the door was firmly shut. While the cats didn’t eat cookies, they liked to play with boxes and these boxes opened easily and squashed flat when a fat cat butt sat on them. And Klaus had grown into being quite the chonky cat.